


Ikea

by Darling_Pretty



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, ikea is the seventh circle of hell, peggy is young in the future, realtors have a fun mom energy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-19 02:01:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8184806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darling_Pretty/pseuds/Darling_Pretty
Summary: Steve and Peggy go shopping for a coffee table.





	

The building loomed large in front of them- big, blocky, and with very few windows. Peggy raised an eyebrow; it certainly didn’t _look_ like a place that relationships went to die, as Tony had nearly cackled when they’d told him of their weekend plans.

She looked over at Steve, his hand still on the gearshift. He hadn’t shaved since Friday; Steve seemed to take every opportunity to grow out his beard and a rare full weekend off together apparently warranted not shaving. She didn’t mind. No one ever seemed to suspect that clean-cut Captain America was even capable of growing facial hair below his eyebrows. It lent them an air of anonymity that Peggy appreciated. And there was a certain… draw to the feel of that beard.

Steve grinned at her, that seditious little grin she’d come to know and love. She rolled her eyes and opened the car door.

Surely it couldn’t be _that_ bad.

. . . 

Searching for an apartment had been surprisingly fun. She’d regarded it with a certain amount of dread, if she were perfectly honest, but there was something… exciting about looking for an apartment of their own, about the idea of choosing a place for the two of them, of building a future even if It was in this strange new future and not at all how she’d imagined during the war.

They dragged Nat along with them; Peggy trusted Nat to give her honest opinion about a place and Steve trusted Nat to help them pick something affordable. Even if they had to take a few fossil jokes along the way.

. . . 

Three hours later, Peggy could confirm, IKEA was, in fact, _that bad_. All they needed was a stupid coffee table for the living room. Surely that wasn’t too much to ask for. She and Steve had similar tastes in furniture; both agreed a home should be full of warmer, rich tones, even if he tended towards sparser, contemporary designs than she did. Surely it would be easy enough to find something to suit them.

It wasn’t. 

They were three hours into the trip, with a shopping cart full of things they did not plan to get and did not need. _Of course_ they didn’t need an egg timer shaped like a frog. Steve always cooked the eggs every morning to perfection without aid of any timer, so she wasn’t sure of the benefits of the thing. Still, it made Steve chuckle and Peggy knew it wasn’t the hill on which to make her last stand. 

And yet somehow the showroom was _worse_. The only table that Peggy liked at all wasn’t the right color to match the hardwood floors of their new apartment; it was just off enough that she knew it would be jarring. The tables that Steve seemed to like were stark glass and sleek lines. Nothing like the warm environment she wanted for their home. Besides, privately, Peggy could only see cleaning little fingerprints off the glass or, even worse, cleaning up sliced little fingers or heads after the glass shattered. One day. Maybe. In any case, she wasn’t about to purchase something that would be so much work.

She vetoed yet another table and she watched as his eyes darkened. Peggy felt her own frustration rising to meet his.“What was wrong with _that_ one?”

“ _That_ one,” Peggy responded tartly, “is too much money and too much work.”

She could see the cutting remark he smothered before he could say it and she stalked off, storming past another stupid white table and leaving him with the cart.

. . .

Their realtor was named Sue. Peggy secretly thought that all realtors were named Sue or something similar. She seemed determined to find _Captain America_ an apartment and had that unconvincingly soft demeanor that seemed to hide a shark’s instincts below the surface. Peggy liked her, even if she _did_ seem to be particularly conventional in her beliefs, assuming that she and Steve were married before speaking with them and would still make allusions to their married life in the future. Peggy didn’t have the heart to tell her that both she and Steve had agreed to put a pin in that discussion for now; they had enough to navigate without attempting to plan a wedding or figure out how to be _married_ on top of everything.

But still, Sue was enthusiastic and took them to see apartments that were well above what either Steve or Peggy was willing to spend. She called it an investment in their future. They thought it was frivolous. (Nat seemed to think their budget absurdly low, but then remembered they were children of the Depression and rolled her eyes without saying anything.)

She loved looking at apartments though. Their list of desirable attributes wasn’t long- Steve wanted a decent sized kitchen (something Peggy couldn’t be bothered about, but he liked making breakfast and she wasn’t about to complain), Peggy wanted something of a view or at least not to look into someone else’s apartment. And- to Sue’s mild discomfort and Natasha’s mild amusement- the shower most definitely needed to be sized appropriately to house both of them, though of course, they blamed it on Steve’s height.

. . . 

“That’s not going to _fit_ ,” Peggy sighed, rubbing her temples. “It’s too damn big- and I swear to God, Steve Rogers, if you don’t wipe that smug grin off your face…”

“Just trying to lighten the mood.” He looked deflated. “Look, Pegs, maybe it’s just not happening today. We can look someplace else or come back in awhile.”

“And _what_ , Steve? Just have our guests keep putting their coffee on fucking overturned crates?”

“Peggy.” He had his patient voice on. Peggy _hated_ his patient voice on. He used it when she was being ridiculous and she knew it. And the worst part was that it wasn’t even condescending; he just really _was_ that patient.

“Steve,” she responded, her voice more biting than she’d intended.

He just shook his head. “Maybe we should get some food.”

Peggy crossed her arms. “No.”

. . . 

She liked the place from the moment they’d walked in. She got a good feeling from it, though Peggy wasn’t exactly the most emotionally impulsive person. But it was warm and flooded with light, which Steve was sure to appreciate, and Peggy liked that the cabinets and floors were rich wood. Within moments Steve was talking about how to arrange furniture. It was a good sign.

The bathroom passed muster too. Peggy demanded they take the shower for a test ride and Steve flushed all the way down his neck. “Peg, you can’t take a shower for a test ride.”

“Watch me,” Peggy replied with a saucy wink. “Or better yet, join me.”

Nat snickered. “Uh,” said Sue. Steve shook his head.

“Oh, _relax_ ,” Peggy sighed and grabbed his hand. “I just want to make sure we both fit.”

“It’s so nice to see a couple so… in love.”

“Yeah, we can’t wait until they move out,” Nat confided. Peggy just rolled her eyes and tugged Steve to the bathroom.

The shower would work just fine.

. . .

By the time they left- with an oversized trunk, not with a table at all- they weren’t speaking. In fact, it was a miracle they’d managed to communicate agreement at all. The vein in Steve’s neck was prominent as his jaw clenched and Peggy’s fists were balled in rage as she handed over the money for the table. They paid cash; Peggy still wasn’t exactly happy with the idea of credit cards, though they certainly made things easier.

The woman in a bright yellow polo asked if they needed help out. Steve was already stomping out. Peggy rolled her eyes and said no. She was in no mood for one of his tantrums.

Autumn was in the air; it was crisp as she left the store. Still, the sun was warm and she could feel where the rays pricked at her skin. Peggy felt her muscles relax. How was she so tense?

They reached the pickup truck they’d borrowed from Tony’s collection. Steve strong-armed in the trunk and then they had to put in the rest of the crap they spent too much money on. As she placed one of the bags into the bed of the truck, she felt Steve brush his hand across the small of her back. Peggy knew that touch; it was an apology.

She looked up and met his eye. He gave her a sheepish little grin and Peggy melted. She offered him a small smile as an apology of her own.

They climbed into the truck and Peggy caught his eye. His lips twitch. She fought her own losing battle to keep her smile at bay. But she didn’t want to. In fact, she let herself smile and then laughed. Hard.

Steve joined in, clutching at his chest and laughing with his whole body. Reaching out, he grabbed her hand as he laughed. She loved that about him.

. . .

They moved in on a Saturday. Boxes were piled high. Tony had offered his services- or the services of his tech- an offer that was quickly turned down. But Clint was happy to offer services for pizza and beer and even Natasha helped move boxes while Pepper had helped organize their things.

But by five, their friends were gone and Steve and Peggy were left alone. The furniture was essentially where it needed to go, but there were about a hundred boxes that needed unpacking still. Even thinking about it made her head start to pound.

Steve just grabbed her hand and tugged her to him. 

“What-” Peggy began to ask, but her questioned was swallowed by a soft kiss that managed to drive all rational thought from her brain.

“Welcome home, Pegs,” he said, cupping her face. All Peggy could do was lean up and catch his lips again.

. . .

The trunk was perfect in their living room. 

Still, when they needed barstools for the kitchen, they went thrifting instead.


End file.
